The bipartisan bill, introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY), seeks
to draw much-needed attention on the status of Christian and minority
religious sites and institutions in Turkey and in occupied Cyprus.
Specifically, the bill:

require[s] the Secretary of State to provide an annual
report to Congress regarding United States Government efforts to survey
and secure the return, protection, and restoration of stolen,
confiscated, or otherwise unreturned Christian properties in the
Republic of Turkey and in those areas currently occupied by the Turkish
military in northern Cyprus.

“Over decades, Christian church properties,
particularly those belonging to the Armenian, Syriac, and Greek Orthodox
communities have been either violently overtaken or illegally
confiscated by Turkish authorities under various excuses. These
churches under Turkish control have been looted, converted to mosques,
storehouses, casinos, vandalized and often irreparably damaged.” “Vulnerable religious minorities deserve more than just piecemeal returns of their stolen religious properties. It
is important that the United States continue to encourage Turkish
leaders to uphold their commitments and return all remaining properties
without further delay. This bill will make promoting religious freedom and tolerance in Turkey a U.S. diplomatic priority.”

And here’s why Rep. Engel signed on as a co-sponsor:

“Armenian, Syriac, and Greek Orthodox
communities in Turkey have for many years been seeking the return of
their confiscated properties. The claims of these communities
must be respected and addressed in a comprehensive and timely manner.
This legislation calls on the Republic of Turkey to meet its
international obligations, and urges the United States to prioritize the
return of unlawfully seized religious properties in order to begin to
resolve the legitimate claims of these communities.”

The bill doesn’t simply make it U.S. policy to push for the return of
those unlawfully seized religious properties. It also notes that “the
Government of Turkey, in contravention of its international legal
obligations, refuses to recognize the 2,000-year-old Sacred See of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate’s international status, has confiscated the
large majority of the assets and properties of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, Greek cultural and educational foundations, maintains that
candidates for the position of Ecumenical Patriarch must be Turkish
citizens, and continues to refuse to reopen the Theological School at
Halki, thus impeding training and succession for the Greek Orthodox
clergy in Turkey.”

For far too long, Turkey has been allowed to trample on the rights of
its religious minorities. Now is the time for Turkey to understand that
the world is watching and waiting for it remedy this continued
injustice.

You can be sure that the Turkish government and its lobbyists
will do everything it can to ensure that this bill won’t even get to
the floor of the House. That’s why why we need you to write a letter to your Representative right now and ask them to support H.R. 4347.